REAGAN COUNTRY is the Pastor Stephen Grant Book of the Month for February

REAGAN COUNTRY is the Pastor Stephen Grant Book of the Month for February. The Kindle price has been slashed from $7.99 to $2.99. Signed books and sets are on sale at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

This pulse-pounding thriller features Stephen Grant, a Lutheran pastor, a former Navy SEAL and onetime CIA operative, with conflict stretching from the Reagan Presidential Library in California to the White House to a Russian Orthodox monastery to the Kremlin. And REAGAN COUNTRY has received high praise, including…

• “Must read for any Reaganite.”   - Craig Shirley, Reagan biographer and presidential historian

• “It was my great privilege that Ronald Reagan and I were good friends and political allies. This exciting political thriller may be a novel but it truly captures President Reagan's optimism and principles.”  - Ambassador Fred J. Eckert

• “If political intrigue and expansive narrative threads fit neatly in your wheelhouse, then the writing of Ray Keating never fails to disappoint… Another deeply researched and action-packed gem from the author. While the details remain cloaked in secrecy for much of the novel - a specialty of Keating's, never giving away too much too soon - the artfully crafted suspense is palpable. If you're a political junkie, this book will not disappoint, but remarkably, REAGAN COUNTRY also works as an adrenaline-doused romp that any suspense lover will struggle to bookmark before the final page.”   - Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★★

• “Keating … has accumulated an impressive assortment of characters in his series, and he gives each of them ample opportunity to shine… Tight action scenes complement the suspense (uncertainty over when the next possible attack will be)… The villains, meanwhile, are just as rich and engrossing as the good guys and gals. The familiar protagonist, along with sensational new and recurring characters, drives an energetic political tale.”   - Kirkus Reviews

• “President Ronald Reagan's legacy will live on in the U.S., around the world and in the pages of history. And now, thanks to Ray Keating's REAGAN COUNTRY, it will live on in the world of fiction. REAGAN COUNTRY ranks as a page-turning thriller that pays homage to the greatest president of the twentieth century.”      - Tom Edmonds, producer of the official documentary of President Reagan,  Ronald Reagan: An American President

• "REAGAN COUNTRY is a story of unexpected adventure. I have come to expect adventure for Rev. Stephen Grant in and beyond St. Mary's Lutheran Church (LCMS), but I did not expect this kind of plot. In an America where a large percentage of college students naively prefer and/or promote socialism over capitalism, 'Russia's Reagan' shows the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the people who had been oppressed by socialism and communism. If only! ... Reflecting on the series to date, one strength is the knowledge and research of the author. He becomes, if he is not already, a subject matter expert on the topic at hand. Reagan. Comic books. Wine. Baseball. Everything comes off as authentic, accurate, and well-informed. Keating's creativity also avoids the formula of so much fiction in that we are not merely back to the 'status quo' at the end of each installment. He develops characters, relationships, and situations in believable, realistic, human ways. We are primed, wanting more."  - Lutheran Book Review

Go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C6J8RB6

Reagan Documentary Producer Loves "Reagan Country"

Producer of Official President Reagan Documentary Praises REAGAN COUNTRY: A PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT NOVEL. Pre-Order the Kindle Edition Today – Publication Date is May 10.

Tom Edmonds, producer of the official documentary of President Reagan,  “Ronald Reagan: An American President,” declares, “President Ronald Reagan’s legacy will live on in the U.S., around the world and in the pages of history. And now, thanks to Ray Keating’s REAGAN COUNTRY, it will live on in the world of fiction. REAGAN COUNTRY ranks as a page-turning thriller that pays homage to the greatest president of the twentieth century.”

What is REAGAN COUNTRY about? As described on the book’s cover: “Could President Ronald Reagan’s influence reach into the former ‘evil empire’? The media refers to a businessman on the rise as ‘Russia’s Reagan.’ Unfortunately, others seek a return to the old ways, longing for Russia’s former ‘greatness.’ The dispute becomes deadly. Conflict stretches from the Reagan Presidential Library in California to the White House to a Russian Orthodox monastery to the Kremlin. Stephen Grant, pastor at St. Mary’s Lutheran Church on Long Island, a former Navy SEAL and onetime CIA operative, stands at the center of the tumult. He is strengthened by his faith, wife, friends, and former CIA colleagues, and is armed with a Glock and Holy Scripture. Grant is the kind of guy that Reagan would have appreciated.”

Finally, in the book’s Author’s Note, Ray Keating writes, “The idea for this Pastor Stephen Grant novel hit me when visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in early 2017. The trip was a joy and meant a great deal… This novel is not about Ronald Reagan per se. Rather, it’s a Pastor Stephen Grant thriller about both longtime and new characters in a hopefully exciting and interesting story. Amidst the action, faith, fun and thrills in the following pages, though, this work of fiction notes and uses Reagan’s influence – speculating on it reaching even into Russia.”

The very early Facebook reviews declare REAGAN COUNTRY to be a “riveting read” and a “great read.”

Pre-order REAGAN COUNTRY for the Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/Reagan-Country-Pastor-Stephen-Grant-ebook/dp/B07C6J8RB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525445667&sr=8-1&keywords=reagan+country+by+ray+keating&dpID=61gvkE-3YFL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Pre-order signed paperbacks at www.raykeatingonline.com

First Thumbs Up for REAGAN COUNTRY

The first Facebook review of REAGAN COUNTRY is in! 

Pre-order signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com.

And pre-order for the Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/Reagan-Country-Pastor-Stephen-Grant-ebook/dp/B07C6J8RB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525197122&sr=8-1&keywords=reagan+country+by+ray+keating&dpID=61gvkE-3YFL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Is “The Shroud Conspiracy” an Anti-Dan-Brown Thriller – In a Good Way?

by Ray Keating

In his first thriller, John Heubusch, the executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, earns the moniker of being an anti-Dan-Brown novelist – and I mean that in a good way. The Shroud Conspiracy (Howard Books, New York, 2017, 402 pages, $26) ranks as an engrossing, easy page-turner, like much of Dan Brown’s work, but, unlike Brown, Heubusch shows respect for the Christianity in which the story is rooted.

Writing a Christian-based – in this case, Catholic – work of fiction can be tricky. After all, Christian fiction often can be sugary, with cardboard characters and stilted, unrealistic dialogue. Meanwhile, at the other extreme are works of fiction that dismiss or are hostile toward Christians or the Church.

Heubusch avoids these extremes. His book moves along nicely. His characters come across as real people, who act, speak and react in ways that seem reasonable, even as Heubusch puts them in fantasy-like situations. Indeed, he takes his characters and the readers on a wild ride weaving together the Vatican, Catholic relics, atheists, scientists, faithful Catholics and the misguided, likeable and not-so-likeable priests, a crazy cult, some globe-trotting, and both the miraculous and the heretical. Heck, there’s even a cute little dog that plays a role in this tale.

And there’s more that makes this more than just a shallow thriller. A question wrestled with by the characters in The Shroud Conspiracy is not if science and faith are necessarily in conflict, but rather, can science acknowledge that it has limitations?

The two main characters have an intriguing relationship. Domenika Jozef works for the Vatican, and Dr. Jon Bouderant is a scientist who the Vatican hires to put together a team of experts to test the validity of the Shroud of Turin. Sexual tension emerges between the two. But the will-they-or-won’t-they question is not necessarily about clashing personalities, but rather strikingly different worldviews. Domenika is a devout Catholic, while Jon is a very public atheist. It is Domenika who asks Jon: “Are you willing to agree that science may never be able to grasp the divine?” The question eventually is answered in an edge-of-the-seat, conspiracy-thriller manner.

As the fast-paced story unfolds involving the natural and the supernatural, the everyday and the miraculous, and the beliefs of individuals being put to the test, if you will, I thought of what the resurrected Jesus, after showing Thomas the marks of his wounds from being crucified, said: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Yes, this is a thriller that lends itself to reflection, debate and discussion.

The Shroud Conspiracy is packed with action, some big issues to ponder, and welcome character development. Unlike some thrillers and certain Christian fiction, Heubusch engages the reader on assorted levels.

_______________

Ray Keating is the author of the PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT NOVELS. The latest in the series is WINE INTO WATER. Coming soon is the seventh book in the series titled LIONHEARTS.